A quick update here:
It has been 7 months since I underwent Lutronic Nd Yag Laser treatment at Beau&Hans Clinic Johor Bahru, since then, I hardly notice any new freckles coming out! I’m thankful to the effective laser treatment, and am currently more used to the sunscreen routine, I’m also taking more care of my skin. Thanks guys for all the advice and follow up!
Being someone that enjoys being outdoors a lot in Australia, and who never cared about sunscreen unless it was very very hot because I hated the sticky feeling when you put it on, it wasn’t long before freckles started appearing all around my nose. I ignored them for a long time, it slowly increased in numbers and darken in color. One day during a trip to Cuba, after a long day under the sun, returning back to my room and looking into the mirror, I suddenly realized that my freckles were not just on my nose anymore, but had spread all the way along my cheeks to my ears! It was then that I started to realized that I had to do something about it before it gets even worst.
” I was ignoring my freckles long enough till they spread all the way from my cheeks to my ears!”
Upon a visit back home to Malaysia, I contacted Beau and Hans after a recommendation by a friend. I arranged for a consultation with Dr. Winnie there. Prior to visiting the clinic, she advised me to put sunscreen on religiously (which I did), and also if possible, any whitening skin care products I might have to reduce the melanin production on my skin (which I ignored).
During the consultation, Dr Winnie was very thorough in explaining about my condition and treatment options, she also explain a lot on what I should avoid after getting laser treatment to prevent rebound. Even though all my freckles would be removed after the procedure, I would have to be very consistent in putting sunscreen lotion in the future and take more steps to prevent further sun damage to my skin (she suggested wearing hats, avoid going out when the sun is very strong etc), all these skin care is even more important especially in the next few months after the laser procedure. I was glad that everything was well explained prior to treatment so that i can anticipate the after care as all these sun prevention steps during the recovery are very new to me.
I was also told the laser would sting slightly during the procedure, but only at where my freckles were, and it did! As I had so many freckles around my nose, under my eyes and cheeks, it took around an hour for the whole procedure to be completed. After the laser treatment, my freckles looked very very very much darker in color, the surrounding skin around the freckles were very red and it felt like I just got a sun burn. The sun burn sensation lasted about an hour after treatment, after which my skin finally felt back to normal.
I was given several creams to apply on my face, medicated creams for the first week include post laser soothing cream which helped with the stinging sensation and reducing the redness; hydrating and stabilizing creams for the first month which include a spot reduction cream and Vitamin C serum for preventing rebound and boosting skin healing; and finally some maintenance kind of cream for the second month onward which is mostly for moisturizing purpose. Of course I was to apply an SPF 50 sunscreen every single day, 3-4 times a day also if i am going outdoor.
I hated applying oily products on my face, especially with Malaysia’s humid weather, so the first week was tough for me. However, I pushed through, and mostly stayed indoors, and my skin recovered (with all the freckles turning into scabs and falling off gradually on its own!) within the first week. If I had to be outdoors, I slathered on the sunscreen. I was told to expect my skin to feel itchy when the freckle scabs started to form and fall off, but I think by applying a thick layer of soothing cream and moisturizing cream on my face, especially at night, did help to prevent that from happening.
When I returned to Melbourne however, I found that these products are amazing for dry weather though as they kept my skin feeling hydrated without the oiliness effect, and my skin looks healthier after!
I’m keeping to this skin care routine for now, and I’m reapplying sunscreen every few hours as told, especially if I was going outdoors, to prevent the freckles from coming back full force. I am currently very happy with the outcome since!
I was told that usually for severe freckles they would recommend a few treatment sessions to treat them in order to cope with the downtime of scabbing and skin recovery, especially in Malaysia’s hot and humid climate. But because I was only available in Malaysia for a short holiday, I could only afford undergoing just one treatment. Thankfully my one week of down time was over by the time I returned to Melbourne, the scabs were dark and the skin was red for the first few days, and when the redness came down, the dark dark scabs were even more obvious before it fell off, if I had to go back to work during that period, or go to meetings to meet clients then, I might have found it difficult, as putting on concealer or makeup on the raw skin did not seem like a good idea either. Thankfully thankfully, it all went well.
Overall I would give the whole experience a positive remark. I liked the results, even though you have to ride out the whole process to get it, and thus, I would definitely recommend it to someone who has freckles. Personal advice to is get your freckles treated earlier also and not to wait till it is very severe like how I did!
Cheers!
Beau & Hans 